Adam Najem's Afghanistan trip is one the Union midfielder 'will never forget'

The Union's Adam Najem, left, battling with Columbus Crew's Jukka Raitala in a game last year, admitted that he "got chills" with the response from the home fans after his first international cap with Afghanistan last Sunday.

CHESTER >> Adam Najem might not have been there to witness all the history.

He didn’t live through the same travails as the Afghanistan fans cheering him on. He might not have known that the ground he treaded over at Kabul’s Ghazi Stadium barely two decades ago played host to public executions in addition to soccer matches.

But the Philadelphia Union midfielder needed no translation for the emotion showered on him and his Afghanistan teammates. The 5,000 or so fans that showed up more than two hours before kickoff to the first Afghanistan home match in the country in five years told Najem all he needed to know.

“We took the laps around the field and it was incredible,” Najem said Wednesday. “It gave me the chills. That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Najem started in Afghanistan’s 0-0 draw with Palestine Sunday, his first cap for the nation of his father’s birth and a country he had never before visited. But the native of Clifton, N.J., left with a special understanding of the honor – not just for reaching the exalted pedestal of being a capped international but doing so in a place where soccer is such a salient signal of normality.

“It’s definitely a country that hasn’t been able to have the feeling of joy and happiness for a while,” Najem said. “But we all got to be a part of that, and any sense of joy and happiness that we could bring to them, it was really amazing and it meant a lot. If we could continue bringing that sense to fans and people of the county, it will only keep getting better.”

Najem played 89 minutes, deployed on the right side of a midfield diamond. He played alongside his distant cousin, Benjamin Ali Nadjem, a fullback who plays in Germany. Najem also connected with an uncle who lives in the country, a special family tie beyond his large extended clan in North America.

The game marked the 99th Afghan Independence Day, a vital holiday for a country that has undergone many rebirths in the last century. The fixture was also the first international in Afghanistan since 2013 and just the third since 2003 for a program that was mothballed from 1984-2002. The country remains in a state of perpetual war: Government forces are engaged in battle with Taliban insurgents in Ghazni province 150 miles from the capital, and a suicide bombing at a college prep center last Wednesday killed 34 and wounded 57.

Najem understood the danger of the trip, but he relished the experience.

“Everybody from the camp went in knowing there’s a risk involved,” he said. “Everyone knew that anything can happen at any moment, but that’s life. I’m glad I took the risk of seeing that country and being part of that.”

Najem hasn’t yet played for the Union this season, but he’s performed well with Bethlehem Steel. Coach Jim Curtin pointed out Wednesday that Najem was close to starting on opening day, the honor at the No. 10 going to Homegrown Anthony Fontana, who scored against New England. Borek Dockal has started every MLS game but two since.

“It’s a credit to Adam and the professionalism he’s had where he hasn’t gotten the minutes he’s wanted to get on the first team,” Curtin said. “… Some players maybe pout and put their head down and quit, and some embrace it and try to get better each and every day. I would put Adam in that (second) category. Now he’s played some really good games for the Steel. He’s been recognized for his national team, which is a very special honor for him. You could tell just how much it meant to the country, how much it meant to Adam as well, to represent them.”